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With any kind of web-based business, there are many details that need to be considered to be successful, including finding the right shopping cart or payment method. When selling and taking payments online, a payment gateway is also needed; this is a means of getting buyer funds from the shopping cart to a seller’s bank to complete the sale and might require the help of an Austin website design company to set up. Once a website has been outfitted with the right payment gateway tied into shopping carts and bank accounts, the global internet market is wide open!

Gateway Functioning

A payment gateway is basically the middle step that transfers money from a buyer’s account to a seller’s bank. Buyers cash out shopping carts, click to make payment, and money transfers from one bank account to another via a payment gateway. Consider it similar to standing at the checkout in a regular store – once the money is given, it sits in the cash register until it is deposited into the business’s bank account.

Making an electronic transaction works in the same way with the difference of requiring the installation of a specific software application on the seller’s website. The software is integrated into the website and connected to the company’s bank and merchant accounts on the other end; then money transfers automatically this way. With this type of online transaction, the type of gateway used by an Austin website design company determines whether the final order form is on the merchant’s website and connected into a bank account directly or on the gateway’s website and then connected to the merchant’s accounts. By including a website payment gateway, a third party fund transfer like PayPal or Google that charges additional merchant fees does not have to be used.

Gateway Options

There are various programs that can be used to connect shopping carts to bank accounts via a payment gateway. When looking for the right one, it is important to consider: the application cost; any fees paid for transactions; ease of use; and security features. Additionally, any selected software must be easily merged with the existing shopping cart program, website platform; and programming language as well.

The most useful applications easily integrate with a merchant’s website and offer options that provide the best service to all customers, including the use of different languages and/or currencies as well as other options that will allow buyers to have as smooth a payment transaction as possible. The most important feature is having a highly secure system with the encryption that is essential to get and maintain customer trust. Website buyers are wary about entering financial information these days – and with good reason. So don’t cut corners with payment software that is not secure enough.

Being ready for business with a reliable shopping cart and payment gateway is the only way that e-commerce merchants can successfully transact business today. While shopping online adds conveniences for both buyers and sellers, this is only valuable if there is a secure, customizable, and easily used payment gateway as well. So be sure to properly integrate Austin website design and payment gateways – and enjoy the benefits of a functioning, profitable e-commerce online store!